


Code Red

by kaeorin



Series: Loki's Lullabies [27]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Menstruation, Pain, Protective Loki (Marvel), Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23780608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeorin/pseuds/kaeorin
Summary: After all this time, you can’t help but think you should really be used to your period pains, but you’re not. Loki looks after you. (Beware: The reader has a uterus & periods in this one--I don't want to trigger dysphoria or anything in any of my readers who don't have those things.)
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Series: Loki's Lullabies [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678240
Comments: 12
Kudos: 241





	Code Red

You were an adult. You had been living in this body for decades now, so you probably should be used to all its various foibles and quirks. Logically, you knew that, at your age, if your periods were still this painful, there was probably some kind of medical explanation for it. However, you also knew that there weren’t many doctors out there who would take you seriously if you tried to get yourself looked at. So you kind of just grit your teeth a few days a month and got through it. When things were normal, and you had work to throw yourself into, or social engagement to distract yourself with, it was a little easier to deal with the same bullshit that happened every single month. But things were not normal. And you were miserable.

Although your period always exhausted you, you never slept very well. Something about the bloating and the cramping and the nagging doubt about whether you were bleeding all over the sheets made it so you never slept very deeply. This month was no exception. Hell, this month, things might have been even worse. It’d been a long time since you’d had to worry about bleeding on a bed-partner, after all, and a huge part of you would rather sleep on the couch than bleed on Loki.

The grey light of morning was just starting to sneak past your bedroom curtains and let you know it was safe to give up trying to go back to sleep. Carefully, you slid out of the bed, and stole a quick glance at the sheets to make sure you hadn’t made a mess. Loki was just starting to sleep deeply enough with you that you could get out of bed without waking him, but there was absolutely no chance of you changing the sheets while he slept. But things were fine this morning. You didn’t typically need to worry for the first couple of days, anyway.

You fumbled through your morning routine and tried not to meet your eyes in the mirror. Your whole body felt stiff. You didn’t want to look in the mirror and see that your cheeks were as puffy as you imagined they were—or that they _weren’t_. Somehow, it’d be just as bad if all of this was only in your head. You allowed yourself to take a very hot shower in order to ease the aching that was already gathering in your lower back. That was honestly the most humiliating part of all of this: that all it took was some muscle cramping to knock you out of commission for a few days. Loki grew up surrounded by fierce warriors— _Valkyries—_ and certainly they didn’t get to sit things out once a month because they were sore.

When the hot water began to run out, you stepped out of the shower and dried off as quickly as you could. Most of the time, you tried to dress in real clothes while you were working at home—you avoided your comfy clothes because they never made you feel all that productive—but today, you allowed yourself to pull on a pair of sweatpants. It wasn’t a super attractive look, and you felt kind of weird about dressing so schlubbily all day with Loki in your space, but it was what you needed. At this point, you knew he’d never be so callous as to call you out on it. Hell, he was even likely to try to assure you that he still thought you were gorgeous. 

Finally dressed and brushed and ready for the day, you headed out into the kitchen to make some coffee. It felt a little like you were slogging through water, or maybe quicksand, but you were pretty sure that was just because you hadn’t gotten much sleep. All it meant was that you had to focus very intently on what you were doing. No big deal. When the coffee was done, you poured yourself a mug and took it into the living room. The couch was calling your name. 

You left your computer sitting unopened on the coffee table and instead wedged yourself into the corner of the couch. If you sat just right, the back of the couch would press against your lower back and relieve some of the cramping, if only for a little while. You just had to...sit quietly for a while, and not move at all. 

It was hard to say exactly how long you sat there, trying not to think about anything at all but _especially_ trying not to think about the fact that exercise was supposed to make cramps feel better. If you wanted to try doing any yoga, you’d have to do it pretty soon, before Loki woke up. But just the idea of that made you exhausted, and a little bit angry. Why should you drag out your towel (serving, of course, as a yoga mat) and try to contort yourself into the same twisted positions as the happy, perky little instructors in the videos you watched? Maybe exercise could help you feel better, but right now all you could manage was sitting here and stewing in your misery.

By the time Loki got up and joined you in the living room, you’d finished your coffee. You remained sort of curled around the mug, though, greedily soaking in the warmth that still remained in the ceramic. He leaned down to kiss you before sitting beside you on the couch, but you only offered him your forehead. You didn’t quite feel deserving of real kisses right now.

“Are you alright, darling?” He made a show of blowing on the surface of his coffee, but you got the feeling it was all for your benefit: only so you’d know he wasn’t studying your face. You stared into the mug in your lap and drew in a deep breath.

“I’m fine.” It wasn’t entirely a lie. It wasn’t like this was anything that Loki needed to know about. And you would be fine again soon. He didn’t speak for a long time. The silence stretched between you like something feline, nudged its head against you. It felt expectant. He was waiting. You sighed and closed your eyes. “It’s nothing. It’s...a girl thing.” You knew almost nothing about Asgardian biology, but it was probably safe to assume that Loki’s people were beyond things like menstruation. Maybe they didn’t even give birth like humans did.

But Loki gave a sympathetic hum and reached over to squeeze your knee. Even if Asgardian ladies didn’t suffer through periods, Loki did a lot of reading. You were incredibly relieved that maybe you wouldn’t have to sit here and explain in graphic detail what was happening to you. You weren’t sure you had the strength for that. He let his hand rest on your knee, and the pressure, the warmth, comforted you. You didn’t often enjoy being touched on days like this, but...Loki was good. “What can I do?”

You started to brush him off. This wasn’t his responsibility, this wasn’t something he needed to deal with. But he’d asked. All your past boyfriends, they hadn’t wanted to hear about any of this, let alone offered to help. You closed your mouth for a moment and placed your hand on his. “This is good,” you finally said in a small voice. “Could you just...keep touching me?” Your mind conjured up some kind of scientific explanation: something you’d read in some magazine somewhere, about how being touched releases some kind of brain chemical that can make humans feel better, but you didn’t bother explaining it out loud. 

Loki pulled his hand away then, and rose to his feet, but it was only so he could scoot a little closer to you on the couch. When he sat down again, he slipped his arm around you and pulled you in so you pressed against his side. _Oh, that was nice._ You closed your eyes and leaned your head against him. You kind of missed the way the couch pressed against your back, but Loki always felt so good.

You relished the comfort for as long as you could. He didn’t say anything, just went back to sipping his coffee. You kept nestling closer, practically trying to burrow yourself against him so you could forget the stormclouds gathering in your abdomen. That’s what it felt like: those big, heavy, ugly grey clouds that gathered and roiled in the sky before finally splitting open and tormenting a city. Every now and then, a sharper kind of pain would shoot through your muscles, and you’d always told yourself that _that_ was the lightning. When you could bear it no longer, you reached up to take Loki’s hand off of your shoulder and pull it down behind you. He let you. When you pressed his hand to your lower back, he spread his fingers wide and maintained the pressure, as if he knew what you needed. You looked up at him. His eyebrows were heavy, though his face softened a bit when he met your gaze. “It...hurts,” you said lamely. ‘Hurts’ didn’t feel like quite the right word, but maybe it was close enough. “It’s better with pressure.”

Loki sat his empty mug down on the cushion beside him and reached up to caress your cheek. His hand had been warmed by the mug, so his touch felt especially nice. You let your eyes flutter closed. “Do you have something for heat? Um, I think you call them heating pads? My mother would cast enchantments on sacks of grains so she could press them to her back.”

Your eyes shot open. Did Asgardian women get _periods_ , then? The question must have been written on your face because he laughed and leaned in to kiss your forehead again. “Couldn’t she just...do magic to make it go away?” This kind of changed everything. You thought about the Valkyries again, without really meaning to, and had to shake your head to drive the thought away. 

“It doesn’t work like that. Or that’s what she taught me, anyway. So. The heating pad?”

Somewhat reluctantly, you pulled away from him so you could sit up. “Yeah, I have one. It’s in my linen closet. Hang on.” You started to drag yourself up to your feet, but Loki pressed you gently, but firmly, back into the couch.

“Absolutely not, love. Stay here.” His voice was soft and affectionate, but left no room for argument. And so...you sat there in comfy clothes on your couch while an Asgardian prince went through your linen closet to find your heating pad for your menstrual cramps. Your head spun a little. Life was weird. When he found it, you heard him duck back into the bedroom, and when he finally re-emerged, he carried not only the heating pad, but also your comforter. He held it aloft as though illustrating some point to you and grinned. “More warmth.”

It took a bit of direction and grunting, but Loki found the outlet behind the couch and plugged in the pad. He handed it to you, and you expertly tucked it under the waistband of your sweat pants, and under the shirt you were wearing. It was already beginning to heat up, which meant it was already making you feel better. When you were finished with that, he wrapped the comforter around your shoulders as though it were a shawl of golden lace. You wanted to look away from the sheer affection in his eyes, but you couldn’t. How could you? Instead you smiled back, and could only hope that you looked just as far gone as he did. Because you were.

He leaned down to kiss your forehead again, and then tilted your chin up so he could kiss your lips. This time, you let him. He was soft against you, but fierce, and when he parted his lips, you opened to him without question. He kissed you like you were something amazing, like the two of you were standing in the middle of a grand ballroom instead of wrapped in a blanket in your living room. You wrapped your arms around his neck and whimpered into his kiss. He slipped his arms around your lower back and hugged you. It was just right.

When you broke the kiss, he rested his forehead against yours and did not release you. You kept your eyes closed, trying to force yourself to adjust to this. To being this...cared for. God, he was everything. He rubbed his nose against yours and cupped your cheek in one hand. “I’ve done some reading,” he said in a low voice. “Perhaps later tonight, if you’re feeling better, you’ll allow me to try some of the... _other_ methods of pain relief that I’ve read about?” The suggestive tone in his voice left no room for confusion. You laused despite yourself, but found that the idea didn’t feel quite as ridiculous as maybe it should have.

“Perhaps,” you said coyly. “But first, I just need you to hold me.”

And so Loki took his spot on the couch and let you wriggle in close to him. Eventually, he’d reach for the remote and the two of you would find something to watch on Netflix, but for now, you just quietly soaked in the pleasure of the other’s presence. Maybe you dozed against him, or maybe you simply drifted in a state of almost-comfort. Either way, he was there with you, and you were sheltered in his arms.


End file.
